Bubba Ventrone

Josh McDaniels‘ decision to break his agreement to become the Colts’ next head coach could hypothetically push the NFL to change its hiring rules, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Currently, teams aren’t allowed to formally hire coaches who are still employed by playoff clubs, but that hadn’t been an impediment given that no presumptive head coach had backed out of a reported deal. Had McDaniels been able to be officially offered the Indianapolis job several weeks ago, the Colts may have been aware of his wariness at the time. The NFL discussed a possible hiring rule change in 2017, but tabled the discussion, per Florio.

Here’s more from the 2018 coaching carousel:

The Jets announced that Jeremy Bates, who was recently promoted to offensive coordinator, will also retain his role as the club’s quarterbacks coach. While Bates will have two jobs, he’ll be able to rely on the expertise of assistant quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi and longtime NFL offensive coordinator — and new New York offensive line coach/run game coordinator — Rick Dennison. Bates & Co. will likely be working with at least one new signal-caller in 2018, although the Jets are open to re-signing veteran passer Josh McCown.

Former Patriots assistant Ray “Bubba” Ventrone will be hired as the Colts‘ new special teams coordinator, according to Alex Marvez of the Sporting News. Ventrone, who played for four NFL teams, had been a New England staffer since 2015, but this will be his first run as a coordinator. Indianapolis is also expected to hire ex-Lions defensive backs coach Alan Williams for the same role, per Marvez, while Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link) former Buccaneers assistant Dave Borgonzi will become the Colts’ next linebackers coach.

The Cowboys have finalized their 2017 coaching staff by hiring Doug Colman as their assistant special teams coach, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Colman spent the past four seasons in the same role for the cross-state Texans. He’s expected to be the last major hire on Jason Garrett‘s staff after Dallas promoted Keith O’Quinn to ST coordinator and hired Doug Nussmeier as tight ends coach.

Florida Atlantic University defensive coordinator Chris Kiffin is joining the NFL ranks, as he’s agreed to become the 49ers‘ pass rush specialist, according to Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated. Kiffin comes from a long line of NFL coaches, as he’s the brother of Lane Kiffin and the son of Monte Kiffin. In San Francisco, he’ll work with young defenders Arik Armstead, Solomon Thomas, and DeForest Buckner.

The Giants have announced new head coach Pat Shurmur‘s staff, and the new list of assistants contains several holdovers. Rob Leonard (assistant linebackers), Ryan Roeder (offensive assistant) and Bobby Blick (defensive assistant) will all stick around.

The Jets have been involved in “serious internal discussions” about the possibility of bringing back cornerback Darrelle Revis, with owner Woody Johnson very much involved in those talks, reports Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. The Jets’ interest in Revis is hardly news, but the closer we get to March 9 without an agreement in place between the Patriots and the star cornerback, the more likely it is that he reaches the open market next week.

Let’s round up a few more items related to the Jets and their AFC East rivals….

While there have been rumblings in recent weeks suggesting the Jets could target C.J. Spiller in free agency, the team would like to bring back Bilal Powell and will make a “sincere effort” to re-sign him, writes Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. Cimini estimates that Powell will land a deal that averages between $1.5MM and $2MM per year.

Ryan Tannehill said today that he has yet to sit down with the Dolphins to discuss a contract extension, tweets Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. There’s no real rush for the Fins to get anything done, since Tannehill has one more year left on his rookie contract, and the club holds a team option for the 2016 season.

As Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com details, Patriots safety Devin McCourty spoke to ESPN’s Josina Anderson yesterday after the team announced that it was franchising kicker Stephen Gostkowski, rather than McCourty. The veteran safety didn’t say anything too noteworthy in addressing his contract situation, but acknowledged that not being tagged made it more “realistic” that he could end up somewhere besides New England.

The Patriots hired former 49ers special-teamer Bubba Ventrone today as an assistant special teams coach, as first reported by Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). Ventrone, who began his NFL career with the Pats, is just 28 years old, so the move from playing to coaching is a little surprising, but he hadn’t been under contract for the 2015 season.

5:18pm: Boone has a torn meniscus and will require surgery, tweets Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.

1:52pm: The 49ers have placed Alex Boone and Bubba Ventrone on IR, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com (on Twitter). Filling their spots will be wide receiver Trindon Holliday and cornerback Cameron Fuller, who have been signed to the 53-man roster.

Boone’s knee injury is not considered to be serious, reports Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com (via Twitter). The team placed him on injured reserve only to open up a roster spot for the final game of the season.

Boone had reworked his contract after an extended holdout this past offseason, that resulted in language in his contract that precluded the team from using the franchise tag on him when he is set to become a free agent at the end of next year. Assuming Maiocco is correct in his assessment of the injury, it should not affect his ability to be on the field in 2015.

Ventrone is a special teams ace who has played with four teams since coming into the NFL in 2005. He is set to be a free agent this offseason.

Here are today’s minor transactions, with the latest updates at the top of the list:

The Raiders are set to activate cornerback D.J. Hayden, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The No. 12 overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Hayden played in eight games as a rookie and started two. The club has filled their other remaining vacancy by signing defensive end Denico Autry to the active roster, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

The Rams placed Brandon McGee on the injured reserve with a foot injury while replacing him with Jemea Thomas from the practice squad, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. McGee hasn’t played since Week 2.

The Dolphins announced (on Twitter) that they have waived wide receiver Damian Williams to make space for Jordan.

The Dolphins are moving defensive end Dion Jordan to the active roster today, tweets Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. There’s no word yet on a corresponding move, but they’ll have to cut someone to make space. Jordan was recently reinstated from his six-game suspension.

The Lions announced that they have suspended defensive tackle C.J. Mosley for two weeks for conduct detrimental to the team and subsquently sent him home from London earlier today. To fill his spot, Detroit has signed safety Jerome Couplin from the practice squad, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (on Twitter).

In addition to center Daniel Kilgore, the 49ers have also placed cornerback Chris Cook on the injured reserve. The team has signed safety BubbaVentrone to fill one of the two roster spots.

The Jaguars have cut wide receiver Tavarres King and signed cornerback Peyton Thompson, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. The writer adds that the move was made as insurance in case injured cornerback Dwayne Gratz can’t play this weekend.

Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot tweets that center Nick McDonald was activated from the Browns‘ non-football injury list. To make room on the roster, the team waived tight end GerellRobinson.

Linebacker Marshall McFadden has replaced wideout Austin Pettis on the Rams‘ 53-man roster, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The move leaves two openings on St. Louis’ practice squad, so the team will likely add some new players there soon.

In what’s becoming a weekly ritual, the 49ers have re-signed quarterback Josh Johnson and released safety Bubba Ventrone, the team announced today (via Twitter). The team made the same pair of transactions last Tuesday, then re-signed Ventrone to replace Johnson later in the week.

Running back Antonio Andrews announced (via Twitter) that he has been promoted to the Titans‘ roster from their practice squad, filling the opening created yesterday when the team cut tight end Brett Brackett. Per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Andrews had an offer to sign elsewhere, perhaps with the Bills, so the Titans made the move to avoid losing him.

The Browns have confirmed a move that was reported yesterday, announcing (via Twitter) that they’ve cut defensive lineman Jacobbi McDaniel. Tight end Gerell Robinson takes his spot on the team’s 53-man roster.

The carousel that is the 49ers’ 53rd roster spot continued to spin today, as the 49ers re-signed safety Bubba Ventrone to a one-year contract, cutting quarterback Josh Johnson to clear room (Twitter account). The Niners released Ventrone on Tuesday when they re-signed Johnson.

Johnson has been serving as the 49ers’ third quarterback, but with both Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert healthy, he hasn’t needed to be active on game day, and now the team has gotten into the habit of removing him from the roster entirely on the weekend. The veteran signal-caller will likely be re-signed next week for practice.

Assuming he’s active on Sunday against the Broncos, Ventrone, who turns 28 next week, will likely play exclusively on special teams, so it wasn’t absolutely necessary for the Villanova product to be with the team this week during practice.

Tuesday is typically a busy in-season day for NFL transactions, so we expect to add several more moves from around the league to this list as the day goes on. For now, here are the the day’s minor transactions relating to clubs’ 53-man rosters:

The Seahawks have tweaked the back of their roster, according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has cut safety Steven Terrell and signed defensive end Greg Scruggs.

With the roster opening created by Ventrone’s release (noted below), the 49ers have re-signed quarterback Josh Johnson, who was cut a few days ago, the club announced today in a press release.

Earlier updates:

The Browns have placed defensive lineman Armonty Bryant on injured reserve, signing another defensive lineman, Sione Fua, to take his spot on the roster, the team announced today (Twitter link). Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports first reported (via Twitter) that Fua was signing with the Browns.

The Ravens have a roster exemption for previously-suspended safety Will Hill, which will last until next Monday, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. By that point, Baltimore will have to either waive Hill or cut someone else on the roster, creating space for the safety.

A week after re-signing him to their active roster, the 49ers have released defensive back and special-teamer Bubba Ventrone, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). Ventrone spent last season on San Francisco’s roster, but was cut prior to the 2014 regular season.

Having lost cornerback Trumaine McBride during Sunday night’s game against the Eagles, the Giants are set to promote cornerback Chandler Fenner from their practice squad to the active roster, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Fenner, cut in July by Seattle, has shuffled back and forth between New York’s practice squad and active roster since the regular season began.

WEDNESDAY, 11:13am: The Niners have cut wideout and special-teamer Kassim Osgood to make room for Ventrone, tweets Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. It’s the third time in the last six weeks that Osgood has been released by San Francisco, but it may not be long before he returns to the team.

TUESDAY, 6:23pm: The 49ers have signed safety Bubba Ventrone, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter). Ventrone was cut by San Francisco on August 30th as a part of their downsizing to a 53-man roster.

The Villanova product appeared in 16 games for the 49ers last season, primarily on special teams. Across seven NFL seasons, Ventrone has 61 career tackles, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. At 5’10” and 200 pounds, Ventrone isn’t the biggest guy on the field, but he has been widely praised for his toughness and work ethic. The 49ers’ punt-coverage team is giving up an average of 14.8 yards on punt returns, so someone like Ventrone is sorely needed in SF.

Cory Redding, in the final year of his three-year contract with the Colts and contemplating retirement, will soon make a determination about his football future, writes Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. It’s a decision that he’s not taking lightly. “When I’m dead and gone, what are people going to say about Cory Redding?” the defensive end said. “Will my name even come up? Was he just a football player? A good football player and a horrible person? What is my legacy going to be?” More out of the AFC South..

The Colts recently tried out Bubba Ventrone, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter). The safety didn’t go to Indianapolis, however, he signed with the 49ers earlier tonight.

Former Colts running back DeloneCarter has signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

5:45pm: The 49ers have officially set their 53-man roster, announcing the moves in a press release. Earlier, we learned that the team cut ways with 13 players, and we now have the other six players that have been released: